Dalhousie Snowfall : Memories of The White Carpet in 30 photos

By Meenakshi J

Books have always played a role in shaping my earliest images of snowfall. A gift set of Russian folktales given to me by my aunt when I was a ten-year-old school-going child planted a quiet desire to touch and feel snow at least once in my lifetime. That urge only grew stronger a few years later, after watching Home Alone in the cinema. I wanted to visit a snow-clad mountain town and experience snowfall, preferably during Christmas.

And why? Simply because snow looked especially beautiful around Christmas trees and homes lit with fairy lights. Anyone who has grown up in a dry, humid place with a blazing sun as a constant companion might understand this inexplicable yearning to experience snowfall. What I did not know then was that, years later, and across two winters, I would finally experience and admire snow in this way, in Dalhousie.

When does it snow in Dalhousie?

Snowfall in Dalhousie is most likely between late December and February, with January usually seeing the heaviest snow.

Weather conditions vary each year, and snowfall depends on western disturbances rather than fixed dates. Travellers hoping to see fresh snow should plan some flexibility into their itinerary.

Snowfall in Dalhousie

Memories have a way of allowing personal time travel, racing across years and locking us briefly in the past, where familiar feelings feel freshly revived. They hold a special place for nomads like me, who move from one place to another every few years.

Dalhousie is a quiet colonial hill-town in the Pir Panjal range of Himachal Pradesh, where winter snowfall can dramatically alter the pace of everyday life.

Here, I share some fond memories of the very first snowfall I witnessed in Dalhousie, during the second week of December, a couple of years ago.

Snowfall here is rarely abrupt; it often arrives gradually, reshaping familiar surroundings over several hours.

My very first experience with snow

The blanketing of Dalhousie in white began slowly and silently during the wee hours of darkness in the first week of December that year. By dawn, nearly three feet of snow lay all around, with snowflakes still drifting down, catching the light like fine white glitter.

The view outside our house resembled a black and white canvas, shaped by layers of fresh snow.

The steps leading to the lawn gradually disappeared under an even layer of snow, each one carefully outlined before being completely covered. We expected a blizzard that morning, but thankfully the snowfall stopped around 11 a.m. Soon after, we stepped out, still tentative.

Outside, the view was monochrome, with the sun nowhere in sight. Soon, the meek winter sun snuggled past the clouds and blessed the peaks of the mighty Dhauladhars. Though, the feathery flakes were still gliding over Dalhousie.

The Dalhousie Snowfall stopped momentarily and the sun-god blessed us too. We found this the perfect time to walk through the white field, capturing the paradise all around with a hot-piping cup of coffee and some lip-smacking momos from the food joints at GPO. The Bakrota hills looked like a frozen piece of concrete from the hills of Moti-Tibba.

Mesmerised with the white and black painting of the day, we decided to walk through the whiteness around. We discovered the dotted houses of the Sadar Bazar under a white blanket of Dalhousie Snowfall!

Unlike the other snowclad places of Himachal, the popularity of Dalhousie Snowfall is not widespread. Owing to this, the quaint town looked clutter-free of tourists and the touristry vehicles at least on the first-day post- a snowfall.

Each step of the well-trodden path was carefully blanketed with layers and layers of glistening flakes by Mother-Nature! It looked like the flakes knew where to fall and in what quantity to occupy their place on earth.

Every turn and bend, every nook and corner was an extrapolation of a beautiful canvas waiting to be explored owing to the Dalhousie Snowfall.

A walk along the Subash Chowk left us gaping in awe. The Dalhousie Snowfall had submerged everything under the colour of purity…The Sacred Heart Convent glowed with its colonial architecture and white snow.

And it looked like not just the town but even the flowers and trees loved the whiteness and enjoyed the hibernation as a result of the Dalhousie Snowfall. The leaves of the pines and deodars looked as if they were dusted with chalk powder!

The lovely rhododendrons too weighed down humbly by the canopy of colourless and looked like sugar coated white cotton candies!

Indeed, a sight to behold and to introspect, as everything stands still, wrapped in milky white. Can the majestic peak of Dainkund be left out of a Dalhousie snowfall?

Dainkund and Dalhousie in Winter

The very next day, as the sun finally broke through an azure sky and the roads were cleared, we made our way to the peaks of Dainkund. One word came to mind as we took in the spectacle from above: paradise.

What follows are photographs that capture the vistas unfolding in every direction.

Mesmerising, isn’t it?

Scroll further for glimpses of the vistas around the Bakrota hills — colourful hamlets, white meadows as the snow melted, and a day slowly drawing to a close. These photographs were taken about a week after the first snowfall in Dalhousie.

The terrace farms were submerged in white, while the greenery underneath tries snuggling under the snow carpet. 

The colourful hamlets and the white meadows were a treat to watch…

Everything around us looked unexploited and we thought twice before stepping on the white meadow. We ventured into an area where the local people had already left their foot imprints. And, we just could not get ourselves to muddle and disorient the well-laid snow layers.

The snow-clad peaks of the Dhauladhar range looked spectacular at dusk. We were on our way back home after a long day of watching the town blanketed in white, but paused midway to capture this moment.

I know I cannot get enough of the snow. Still, I am content that a childhood desire — to touch snowflakes and experience snowfall around Christmas — finally came true.

I hope these photographs offer a sense of what Dalhousie looks like when winter settles in quietly. For me, capturing this snowfall remains closely tied to the simple pleasure of being present in the moment.

Winter travel in the mountains often reveals places at their quietest. If snow-covered landscapes and slower hill-town rhythms interest you, you might also enjoy reading about other winter destinations in Himachal Pradesh. And, if winter in the hills draws you in, you may also enjoy this walk from Dalhousie to Dainkund across the Singing Hills of Chamba.

Indian Himalayan winters can be rewarding, but they also demand a certain amount of preparedness. For practical reading, here are a few notes on staying safe while travelling in the Indian Himalaya during winter.

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